Woman in Wheelchair Grabs Knife to Block Target Looters in Minneapolis Amid George Floyd Protest

What started off as a peaceful vigil to honor George Floyd, a black man who died after he was pinned down by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, turned into eruption in the city’s streets. As looters busted out windows of a Target near the Third Precinct police headquarters, one woman who has been dubbed “Jennifer” on social media attempted to stop destruction in the store while in a wheelchair, but it turned violent for her. In videos on social media, Jennifer allegedly held a knife as a way to guard herself while trying to keep others from entering or leaving the Target building.

One video captures Jennifer being sprayed in the face with a fire extinguisher when someone called her out for having a knife in her hand. Towards the end, one person could be heard asking her, “Jennifer, is that enough?” and “Jennifer, is there anything I can do for you, please?” While admitting that she was hit over the head several times and maced in the eyes, she continued to stand her ground.

In a separate video, she was seen holding on to someone’s shopping cart full of items as they attempted to walk away with it. During this process, someone pulled back on her motorized wheelchair to move her out of the way. When things looked like they were turning violent, it appears as though someone stepped in to pull people off of her chair.

“We are heartbroken by the death of George Floyd and the pain it is causing our community,” Target spokesperson Danielle Schumann said in a statement according to Business Insider. “We decided to close our Lake Street store earlier today and worked to ensure all of our team members were accounted for and safe. Our focus will remain on our team members’ safety and helping our community heal. Until further notice, our store will remain closed.”

New surveillance video was released that shows Floyd did not resist as previously stated by police. In the video, Floyd can be seen cooperating with police before he was handcuffed. As they were taking him to the car, it appears as though Floyd tripped a little and fell to the ground and that’s when Chauvin pinned him down with his knee on his neck for eight minutes.